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Patriots Fall Against Top-Ranked Spring Mills

By NICK HENTHORN 3 min read

WHEELING - The Wheeling Park Patriots couldn't quite put the lid on their home standoff against No. 1-ranked Spring Mills on Thursday. After a fiery start and first-quarter lead by the Patriots, the Cardinals got the game back in their grasp by halftime and held on for a 63-51 win.

Wheeling Park came out firing for a quick 6-0 lead, punctuated by a fastbreak dunk by Mykel Davis, and a four-point swing to end the second half- Josh Huffman finding Aiden Davis for a backdoor layup, and Mykel Davis stealing the ensuing inbounds pass and laying it in at the buzzer- had Park ahead 17-13 going into the second.

Spring Mills outscored their opponents 50-34 the rest of the way, helped by an array of 3-pointers by Akwasi Opoku-achampong and stout interior defense led by Caleb Thomas, who totaled four blocks Thursday.

Spring Mills led 32-26 at halftime, the game never coming within a single possession the rest of the way.

"Our guys played extremely hard," Wheeling Park head coach Michael Jebbia said. "It's so hard to simulate- you don't play against a 6-7, a 6-6 and a 6-5 guy all in one lineup all year, and then you see it at the end. I thought there were some times in the second quarter where we had some bad possessions and they ran out and got some buckets. We kept fighting to get back in the game in the third.

Opoku-achampong made five 3-pointers in the game, and the Cardinals made nine as a team, a long-ball frequently the answer for any outburst by Park which threatened to cut the deficit.

Opoku-achampong scored 15 while Loakkhae Uth-Smith scored 21 for Spring Mills. Thomas added 14 points to go with four blocks, eight rebounds and five assists.

"[Opoku-achampong] for them, in scouting video he doesn't take a lot of shots, he hits five treys," Jebbia said. "They shoot 71% from the floor, which is tough to overcome. 9-15 on treys as a team, in an away gym that's impressive. Credit to Spring Mills, they've been No. 1 for most of the season, their balance, their length, it makes them tough to handle. Our kids played hard, just wasn't good enough this time."

Amare Johnson scored 15 points for Park, keeping the Patriots in the game at points in the third quarter, where he scored four points and dished two assists. A 3-pointer by the sophomore with 3:15 in the fourth cut the lead to four, 49-45, but six quick Spring Mill points quieted the comeback.

Park shot 38% from the floor against a lengthy, athletic Spring Mills defense.

"It's tough to simulate, you drive in there, you think you've got a clean look, and No. 3, Thomas comes away and blocks it," Jebbia said. "I think that was the biggest thing, them blocking and altering some of our shots. We did a pretty good job for the most part of running our offense outside of that."

Wheeling Park finishes at 14-7 and will look towards a matchup with Brooke to open the postseason.

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